Greenlist Bulletin 01/29/2010
This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Greenlist Bulletin provides previews of recent publications and websites relevant to reducing the use of toxic chemicals by industries, businesses, communities, individuals and government.
- Soy products guide
- REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation Grows
- Pilot process will begin field testing state children's product law
- Covalence ethical ranking 2009
- Radiation levels cloud Vermont reactor's fate
- PBDE concentrations in women's serum and fecundability
- Electronics industry met EU regulators
1. Soy products guide
Source: United Soybean Board, November 2009
The past year saw the introduction of 26 new soy-based products with the help of the United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff support. These products, as well as other soy-based products, will be compiled in the updated USB 2010 Soy Products Guide.
USB produces the Soy Products Guide each year to help consumers and businesses identify commercially available soy products and ingredients. All of the listed products contain soy in some form. The Soy Products Guide can be found online at
www.soynewuses.org, and also is distributed at trade shows and events throughout the country. The Soy Products Guide serves as a resource for consumers and businesses looking for more information on soy-based products. It divides consumer products, ingredients and intermediates, and industrial products and also includes a directory of companies with products featured in the Guide.
2. REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation Grows
Source: European Chemicals Agency, January 13, 2010
Today, the European Chemicals Agency has added 14 chemical substances1 to the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) for authorisation. Companies manufacturing or importing these substances need to check their potential obligations that result from the listing. The substances which ECHA added on the Candidate List are listed at http://echa.europa.eu/doc/press/pr_10_01_candidate_list_20100113.pdf. Decisions on whether the substances need to be subject to authorisation will be taken later. Companies may have legal obligations resulting from the inclusion of substances in the List. These obligations can apply to the listed substances on their own as well as in mixtures and in articles. A short summary of the obligations is available on ECHA´s website.
3. Pilot process will begin field testing state children's product law
Source: Washington State Department of Ecology, January 28, 2010
Some manufacturers of children's products will begin field testing a pilot rule to carry out Washington state's groundbreaking Children's Safe Product Act, the Department of Ecology (Ecology) announced today. Under the pilot rule-making process, the state and product-makers will learn how to best implement the chemical reporting process called for under the law.
Along with announcing the pilot process, Ecology released the draft list of 66 chemicals that trigger reporting as part of the draft rule. As required by the law, chemicals on the draft list are toxic and have either been found in children's products or have been documented to be present in human tissue (blood, breast milk, etc.). However, the mere presence of these chemicals in children's products does not necessarily indicate that there is a risk of exposure.
The Children's Safe Product Act (CSPA) requires Ecology, in consultation with Department of Health, to develop this list of chemicals. After Ecology issues rules to implement CSPA, manufacturers of children's products must notify Ecology if their products contain these chemicals.
Ecology expects to receive feedback from pilot participants and complete the pilot rule project by this spring. After that, the agency will proceed with formal rule-making and the public will have an opportunity to comment on the rule.
The Children's Safe Product Act was signed by Gov. Gregoire on April 1, 2008. The law consists of two basic parts. The first limited the amount of lead, cadmium and phthalates permissible in children's products sold in Washington after July 1, 2009.
4. Covalence ethical ranking 2009
Source: Covalence, January 26, 2010
The Covalence ethical quotation system is a reputation index based on quantifying qualitative data, which is classified according to 45 criteria such as Labour standards, Waste management, Product social utility or Human rights policy. It is a barometer of how multinationals are perceived in the ethical field.
The system integrates thousands of documents found among media, enterprise, NGO and other sources, for producing the EthicalQuote score which serves as a base for calculating Covalence rankings. This score reflects the historical evolution of multinational companies’ ethical reputation.
Environmental initiatives, Eco-innovative products and social sponsorships have enabled companies to generate positive coverage in 2009, while issues related to downsizing, CO2 emissions and working conditions caused the most criticisms.
New sector leaders are: BMW Group (Automobiles & Parts), Walt Disney Co. (Media), and Suncor Energy Inc. (Oil & Gas). Across sectors, companies progressing the most during 2009 were: BT Group plc (Telecommunication), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Personal & Household Goods), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Technology), and Siemens AG (Industrial Goods & Services). Companies losing ground were: Caterpillar Inc. (Industrial Goods & Services), Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (Financial Services), Vale S.A. (Basic Resources), and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (Banks).
Considering recently included companies, the best ranked are: Sodexo (Travel & Leisure), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Industrial Goods & Services), and Visa Inc. (Financial Services). New companies appearing at the bottom of the ranking are: Philip Morris International Inc. (Personal & Household Goods), Hess Corporation (Oil & Gas), and Mega Financial Holding Co. LTD (Financial Services).
The most active criteria in 2009 were, among positive news: Environmental Impact of Production (15% of all positive news), Eco Innovative Product (12%), Social Sponsorship (12%), and Information to Consumers (4%). On the negative side, the most active criteria were: Downsizing (23%!), Environmental Impact of Production (10%), Labour Standards (10%), and Wages (8%).
Leaders Across Sectors: 1. IBM, 2. Intel Corp, 3. HSBC Holdings, 4. Marks & Spencer, 5. Unilever, 6. Xerox, 7. General Electric, 8. Cisco Systems, 9. Dell Inc., 10. Procter & Gamble
5. Radiation levels cloud Vermont reactor's fate
Source: The New York Times, January 28, 2010
Author: Matthew L. Wald
Levels of radioactive tritium have risen rapidly in recent weeks in the groundwater surrounding Vermont’s sole nuclear power plant, leading both longtime supporters and foes of the reactor to question whether it will be allowed to keep operating.
Owners of the Vermont Yankee plant, along the Connecticut River just north of the Massachusetts border near Brattleboro, are seeking a 20-year extension of the plant’s operating license, which expires in 2012.
But the rising radiation levels, an indication that reactor water is leaking into the soil, have stirred deep concern about the plant’s safety and the credibility of its operators.
So far no tritium has been found in any drinking water wells, nor have raised concentrations of radioactive material been found in the river, the source of the plant’s cooling water.
Vermont’s governor, Jim Douglas, a longtime supporter of the plant, said on Wednesday in a statement that recent events had “raised dark clouds of doubt” about the reactor’s safety and management. He suggested that the Legislature put off any decisions on the future of the plant, located in the town of Vernon.
6. PBDE concentrations in women's serum and fecundability
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, January 26, 2010
Authors: Kim G. Harley, Amy R. Marks, Jonathan Chevrier, Asa Bradman, Andreas Sjodin and Brenda Eskenazi
Background: Exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants is widespread, with 97% of Americans having detectable levels. Although PBDEs have been associated with reproductive and hormonal effects in animals, no human studies have examined their association with fertility.
Objectives: To determine whether maternal concentrations of PBDEs in serum collected during pregnancy are associated with time to pregnancy and menstrual cycle characteristics.
Methods: Pregnant women (N = 223) living in a low-income, predominantly Mexican-immigrant community in California were interviewed to determine how many months they took to become pregnant. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for PBDEs. PBDE concentrations were lipid-adjusted and log10-transformed. Analyses were limited to PBDE congeners detected in >75% of the population (BDE-47, -99, -100, -153). Cox proportional hazards models modified for discrete time were used to obtain fecundability odds ratios (fOR) for the association of PBDEs and time to pregnancy.
Results: All four congeners were detected in more than 95% of women. Increasing levels of BDE-47, -99, -100, -153 and the sum of these 4 congeners were all associated with longer time to pregnancy. Significantly reduced fORs were observed for BDE-100 (adjusted fOR = 0.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4, 0.9), BDE-153 (adjusted fOR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3, 0.8), and the sum of the 4 congeners (adjusted fOR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5. 1.0). PBDEs were not associated with menstrual cycle characteristics.
Conclusions: We found significant decreases in fecundability associated with PBDE exposure in women. Future studies are needed to replicate and confirm this finding.
7. Electronics industry met EU regulators at ChemSec conference
Source: ChemSec, November 18, 2009
Leading companies within the electronics sector sent strong message to EU regulators at ChemSec Conference: Moving away from Brominated Flame Retardants and PVC is possible, feasible and is already happening!
The Greening Consumer Electronics - from Hazardous Material to Sustainable Solutions Conference in the European Parliament on 18 November gathered around 100 representatives from the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, as well as representatives of the electronics sector, trade associations and public interest organisations.
The question is not whether electrical and electronic equipment industry can phase out these chemicals, but when, says Jill Evans, Member of the European Parliament.
MEP Jill Evans started the conference by describing how the event takes place against the backdrop of the ongoing revision of the RoHS directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment) in the European Union. Describing the problems of an ever-growing global stream of electronic waste, and how RoHS presents a unique tool to green the e-industry, restrictions of hazardous material is not preventing the development of new products, but the opposite: products have been redesigned to comply with RoHS, and many companies are now already going beyond that to phase out the use of halogenated compounds.
The recast of RoHS thus presents EU-legislators with an important opportunity to take progress a step further. Her report in the EU legislative process takes note of these possibilities and builds on emerging evidence of problems for human health and the environment connected to the use of bromine and chlorine, eg in brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and PVC.
You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of these resources. Also, please tell us what topics you are particularly interested in monitoring, and who else should see Greenlist. An online search of the TURI Library catalog can be done at http://library.turi.org for greater topic coverage.
This page updated Friday January 29 2010